Exor sweetens offer for PartnerRe and raises stake

The Italian dynasty behind Fiat has raised the stakes in the takeover battle for PartnerRe after the family's investment vehicle Exor increased its takeover offer for the New York-listed reinsurer, valuing it at $6.8bn.

Exor, which is trying to scupper PartnerRe's agreed all-share tie-up with Axis Capital, sweetened its bid by $400m on Tuesday to win over the takeover target's shareholders.

In a sign of its determination to get the deal done, the Milan-listed group also disclosed it had become PartnerRe's largest shareholder, buying $572m worth of shares to take a 9.3 per cent stake.

Exor's moves increase the pressure on PartnerRe's board, which has rebuffed the Italian group's previous advances in favour of the "merger of equals" with Axis.

PartnerRe's directors have privately raised concerns about the ability of Exor - which also holds stakes in the football club Juventus and the Economist magazine as well as the car group Fiat Chrysler - to manage a reinsurance business.

However, they have also said they might consider a higher offer that compensates PartnerRe investors for it giving up control.

In a statement on Tuesday, Exor said that its all-cash offer was "clearly superior" to the proposed combination with Axis, arguing the takeover target had "conducted a flawed process to date".

The Italian group increased its offer from $130 a share to $137.50. It comes a day after Exor struck a deal to raise about $1.3bn selling its 75 per cent stake in Cushman & Wakefield, the US real estate services business.

Exor plans to finance its bid for PartnerRe with proceeds from the Cushman & Wakefield deal, as well as its existing cash pile and credit from banks.

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